Oodles of Zoodles – Healthy Pasta Alternative

Posted On

July 29, 2015

An Article By

Katie

The zoodle is a new trend that is sweeping food blogs, especially vegetarian ones – it’s the offbeat name for a noodle that can be cooked just like pasta, made from zucchini. In addition to being a nifty way to cook vegetables, it’s also become hugely popular for people on gluten-free or paleo diets, allowing them to enjoy pasta-based dishes without worrying about dietary consequences. Zoodles are easy to make, and are a very low-fat substitute for pasta even if you don’t have any dietary restrictions – with sauces and spices added, they also taste just as great.

How to Make Zoodles

The easiest way to make zoodles is with special tools – either a simple julienne slicer, or a fancy spiral slicer. With the julienne slicer, cut a slice of the zucchini so that it lies flat on your chopping board, then simply run your slicer down the length of it, making noodles the length of the entire zucchini. This is a fairly efficient way to hand-make zoodles without a big investment, but if you find yourself making them often, a spiral slicer might be a good investment. This allows you to feed the zucchini in and turn a hand crank, and cut out zoodles in a range of thicknesses.

Vegetarian Zoodle Recipes

Now that you’ve gotten the hang of making zoodles, it’s time to utilise them in a delicious recipe! Many zoodle recipes are inspired by classic pasta dishes, but some are more unique and inventive.

Zoodles with Easy Lentil Marinara. A lentil-based marinara sauce adds spiciness and warmth to the base of zucchini noodles, and the lentils create a hearty substitute for meat. If you have your own favourite marina recipe, it’s easy to switch it in.

Rainbow Raw Pad Thai. Not only is this recipe gluten free and vegan, it’s raw as well! Though zoodles taste great boiled or stir-fried, they can also be eaten as-is. This dish is a fresh and crisp assortment of vegetables such as edamame and red pepper, served with sesame seeds and a peanut dressing.